We could say that the Buddha was teaching us to breath again. It’s said that the prince Siddhartha was sitting under a Bodhi tree, practicing the anapanasati (the mindfulness of breathing) when he gained enlightenment and became awake, a Buddha. He was aware of the whole experience of breathing. Through breathing he trained the mind to be sensitive to the body, rapture, pleasure, the mind, mental processes, impermanence, dispassion, cessation, relinquishment. And while breathing he learned to release the mind from suffering. In this session we explore turning towards experience with breathing.
With Vimalasara Mason-John recorded on June 4, 2017.
Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of Nov 29, 2021
Daily meditations with Martin Aylward.
-
Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christopher Titmuss – Week of 17 February, 2025
We’re delighted to have Christopher Titmuss guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. May they support and deepen your practice.
This week’s theme is: Deep Psychology Of Karma
Join us as we explore the Buddha’s profound teachings on karma (kamma in Pali), a central aspect of Buddhist teaching that’s often misunderstood or overlooked. Christopher will guide us in examining karma not through abstract theory, but through our own direct experience and practice.
Together, we’ll investigate the intimate connection between our intentions, actions, and their results – both in meditation and daily life. We’ll look deeply into what creates binding patterns of karma, both wholesome and unwholesome, and discover what actions can free us from these patterns altogether.
Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.
-
How Does Meditation Support the Path of Awakening?
Recorded :
December 15, 2019 Scientists have documented some significant and measurable changes that occur as a result of meditation. But Buddhist practice is not limited to calm, pleasant, relaxing states of meditation. The liberating path includes a broad range of practices that produce a wide variety of benefits. We learn how we encounter the world of the senses; we…
-
The nature of experience. Part 3: Non Self Existence.
Recorded :
January 29, 2017 Today’s session is the third in a special run of three consecutive sessions with Martin, where he looks deeply at the nature of experience through Buddha’s profound descriptions of reality – Impermanence, Emptiness, Non self-existence. The classes point directly to how these themes can come alive in our practice and understanding, looking at the personal,…
-
Exploring Karma, Choice and the Mind
Recorded :
June 30, 2024 Karma is action in Buddhism, driven by intention. With practice we cultivate the ability to choose our response and our actions, internally and externally. We might think if our intentions are good our actions will follow, but our intentions are often under the influence of strong conditioning that prevents us from living our choices. But…
-
Revealing The Heart’s True Nature: Resting in Metta
Recorded :
June 25, 2023 In this session we will explore the Brahma Viharas: the boundless qualities of heart the Buddha taught. The more we practice, the more these qualities are revealed and expressed naturally through our being. They nourish not only us, but all those we come in contact with. Join us as we reveal the heart’s true nature…
-
Wild Awake: The Wisdom of Nature
Recorded :
July 1, 2018 In the story of the Buddha, he awakened in the forest, taught in the forest, died in the forest. Nature played an important role in the Buddha’s awakening. Many Buddhist practice communities have been in close connection with nature. What role might it play in our practice here in the modern world? In this session…
-
Becoming a Bodhisattva
Recorded :
November 9, 2025 This talk will explore the archetype of the Bodhisattva— a being dedicated to waking up and cultivating wisdom and compassion for the sake of all beings. We will first see how it manifests itself in Buddhist history and teachings, and then tackle important questions: How is it relevant to the suffering in our current times?…
Discussion